The use of mobile telephones is becoming more prevalent. More people now carry mobile telephones wherever they go; they expect a signal in most locations and expect to be able to communicate with others and to receive information virtually anytime and anywhere. But, the current technological climate hampers the ability of a person to send and receive information.
For example, the traditional mobile telephone is not equipped to send and receive e-mail messages, and while newer mobile telephones can send and receive SMS text messages, using a keypad with 8 keys to send messages based on a 26-character alphabet is not the easiest or the most efficient proposition. An individual might choose a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a handheld wireless device to send and receive e-mail messages, but again, the user is hampered by a small form factor and tiny keys that require painstaking dexterity.
Further, an individual often finds himself in a situation where they desire information or an answer to question, but do not have ready access to a computer, printed material, a nearby library or another good source of information that can answer the question. What the individual does often have, though, is a mobile telephone or even a land line. In these situations it would be desirable to simply pick up the telephone and ask question and have the answer be delivered promptly. In addition, an individual equipped with a telephone often desires to access their e-mail messages from any of a variety of different types of e-mail servers using different protocols.
Based upon the above state of technology and the needs of individuals, a system and method are desired that would address the above needs.
Further, it is now commonplace for people to use an Internet search engine to frequently search for information. A few keywords or query is entered into a search engine search screen, the search is processed, and the search engine returns a lengthy list of relevant (one hopes) web sites, usually listed in order from the believed most relevant to the believed least relevant. The user then scans the list of web sites, chooses one that he or she believes will be most relevant, and clicks on the link. Once at that web site, the user must still ferret out the exact information that the user is looking for. Quite often a user scans the list of returned web sites, only to realize that none of the selections will be relevant, and then it is necessary to formulate another query or to supply different keywords for the search engine. Of course, occasionally a chosen link to a web site will lead the user to the exact information (more or less) that the user had in mind when he or she originally formulated a query or the keywords.
But, when the user chooses a link to visit a particular web site and then arrives at that web site, that particular web site has no idea what the user is looking for. The web site is not aware of the question formulated in the user's mind, and is not aware of the query or keywords presented to the search engine. The chosen web site does not then perform a search itself based upon the user's original query. The search engine has delivered a list of relevant web sites to the user, but it is then up to the user himself to investigate these web sites using the query that he has formulated in his mind. For example, a user who wishes to find the best deal on an airline ticket to Europe during the summer might enter a query such as “Europe summer low airline ticket,” hoping that a relevant web site will pop up giving the user an immediate, succinct, accurate recommendation about which airline to choose for which particular European city at which particular time. Of course, those who perform queries such as these realize it is all too common that the result will be hundreds of web sites all offering some type of information about airline flights to Europe during the summer, but none clearly offering the exact answer to the question that the user wants answered.
The user is looking for higher-level information that will answer a very specific question. Currently there are web sites (such as “411-type” web sites) that provide information to a user that is already listed and categorized on the web site. But, the user can only get that information that has already been categorized. The user cannot do a higher-level search to look for information that is not already on the Web. Using the above example, the user will find plenty of voluminous information about advertised low flight prices and dates, but will not find a brief, authoritative answer to his question.
Similarly, a user who has a particular budget and wishes to purchase a certain set of books can do an Internet search for the book titles, but has no way to say “I have this budget, I would like to buy these books, and who can sell them to me today at the lowest price?” An Internet search engine simply returns all seemingly relevant web sites that match the keywords in the query. Even if the user types in a lengthy query such as the one above, it is usually distilled down to the relevant keywords that are submitted to the Internet search engine, and the user is still faced with a lengthy list of possibly relevant web sites. Because there is no higher-level intelligence in the query itself it is not exactly clear what the user wants. Of course, the user knows exactly what they want, but that crystallized thought in the brain of the user never makes it to a web site or to an individual that might be able to provide the exact answer.
Based upon the above state of technology and the needs of individuals, a system and method are desired that would address the above needs.